Scottish Executive

Arts

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions have taken place with interested parties regarding the closure of Balnain House in Inverness and the impact of this closure on the promotion of Scottish traditional music.

Mr Sam Galbraith: The question of closing Balnain House is a matter for the operating company. Nevertheless, the Scottish Arts Council and local partners, who have supported Balnain House for many years, have explored all possible options for maintaining it as an arts centre. The Arts Council is keeping the Executive informed of developments, including collaboration with local partners to place support for traditional arts and music in the Highlands on a more secure basis from now on.

Arts

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether its policy of encouraging the traditional arts will be adversely affected by the closure of Balnain House.

Mr Sam Galbraith: In implementing the Cultural Strategy, the Executive, through the Scottish Arts Council, will continue to promote and support the traditional arts throughout Scotland.

Bridges

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-6862 on 22 June 2000 by Sarah Boyack, whether work in relation to the Kingston Bridge Phase 1 Strengthening contract has now been completed and when existing traffic restrictions on the bridge are expected to be lifted.

Sarah Boyack: All major strengthening operations have been completed and the remaining minor works such as landscaping and site clearance are programmed for completion by April.

  Revised traffic management arrangements are in hand, including re-opening the traffic lanes that are currently closed, and implementation is expected by the end of February.

Caisteal Tioram

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-9470 by Rhona Brankin on 19 September 2000, whether the public local inquiry in relation to the application for scheduled monument consent for the conservation of Caisteal Tioram has taken place; if so, when a decision is expected and, if not, whether the arrangements for the inquiry are now finalised and when the inquiry will take place.

Mr Sam Galbraith: No. The arrangements for holding a public inquiry into the application for scheduled monument consent have been postponed at the request of the applicants to await the outcome of the Executive’s appeal of the County Properties judgement which is being heard by the Inner House of the Court of Session. It is not yet possible to give an indication as to when the inquiry may take place.

Children

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking or plans to take to ensure effective and systematic implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Mr Jack McConnell: The Scottish Executive is committed to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Making it work together - A programme for government emphasised our commitment to improving the lives of our nation’s children and set out a range of targets to that end. The UK Government submitted its second report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child – which included a Scottish chapter – in August 1999. We will consider carefully the UN Committee’s observations on that report once received.

Conservation

Mr John Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many proposed Special Areas of Conservation it has formally considered and how many sites went on to be presented to the European Commission for approval.

Mr Sam Galbraith: Sarah Boyack announced on 14 June 2000 a list of 90 new proposed Special Areas of Conservation. These were in addition to the 131 Scottish and three cross-border sites already submitted to the European Commission in the period up to June 1999. Following consultation with owners and occupiers and other interested parties, 50 of the new sites have been transmitted to the European Commission as part of the UK list of candidate Special Areas of Conservation.

Conservation

Mr John Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional resources it intends to make available for the management and protection of special areas of conservation.

Mr Sam Galbraith: I refer the member to the answer I gave to his question S1O-2855 on 25 January 2001.

Crime

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of recorded crime was committed in each police force area in 1999 and what percentage of the population lives in each police force area.

Mr Jim Wallace: The information requested is given in the table:

  Crimes recorded by the police and population, percentage distribution by police force area, 1999

  Percentages

  


Police Force area 
  

Crimes recorded by the police1


Population as at 30 June 19992




Central 
  

4 
  

5 
  



Dumfries & Galloway 
  

2 
  

3 
  



Fife 
  

6 
  

7 
  



Grampian 
  

11 
  

10 
  



Lothian & Borders 
  

19 
  

17 
  



Northern 
  

3 
  

5 
  



Strathclyde 
  

47 
  

44 
  



Tayside 
  

7 
  

8 
  



SCOTLAND 
  

100 
  

100 
  



  Notes:

  1. Source: Scottish Executive Justice Department.

  2. Source: General Register Office for Scotland.

Crime

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what level of crime was recorded in 1999 per head of population in Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Mr Jim Wallace: The information requested is given in table 7, page 26 of the Statistical Bulletin Recorded Crime in Scotland 1999 published by the Scottish Executive in April 2000, a copy of which is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. no. 7079).

Criminal Records

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to review who is responsible for Scottish Criminal Records Office checks on prospective staff in educational establishments.

Mr Jack McConnell: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-11842 on 22 December 2000.

Enterprise

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made on the Strategy for Enterprise.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The remaining commitment from Review of Enterprise Networks is to produce a Strategy for Enterprise. Consequently, today I have published A Smart, Successful Scotland: Ambitions for the Enterprise Networks , which provides a clear sense of direction and identifiable priorities for the networks.

  It is a comprehensive statement of what the Scottish Executive expects from the Enterprise Networks. It sets out the foundation for sustained improvement economic performance in Scotland focusing on the challenges of raising productivity, encouraging entrepreneurship, raising skill levels and connecting Scotland globally.

  It is available today on the Scottish Executive website and in the Scottish Parliament’s Reference Centre.

Environment

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-7186 by Sarah Boyack on 12 July 2000, whether the analysis of the 1997 survey of aggregate working has led to the drawing of any meaningful conclusions; if so, what these conclusions are, and when it expects to publish the results of the survey.

Mr Sam Galbraith: Sarah Boyack wrote to you on 14 August 2000 confirming that the low level and lateness of returns, together with a number of other difficulties, made it impossible to publish any meaningful conclusions and that the 1997 survey was therefore being abandoned. The Executive is currently considering how work towards future surveys can be progressed.

Environment

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-7985 by Sarah Boyack on 28 June 2000, whether it has now assessed the potential impact on the Scottish agricultural sector of the European Commission White Paper on Environmental Liability and, if so, what its assessment is.

Mr Sam Galbraith: The Scottish Executive is working with DETR on an UK-wide assessment of the European Commission White Paper on Environmental Liability, which will include the potential impact on the agricultural sector.

Environment

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-7987 by Sarah Boyack on 28 June 2000, whether it has now sought or obtained a definition of the public interest groups who may be granted rights to act under the European Commission White Paper on Environmental Liability.

Mr Sam Galbraith: The European Commission has yet to develop a definition of the public interest groups who may be granted rights to act under the White Paper on Environmental Liability. Progress on this may be affected by the proposed reorganisation of the Environment Directorate General in the Commission. We may comment once details emerge.

Environment

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-7988 by Sarah Boyack on 30 August 2000, whether it has now assessed the impact on Scottish industry of an extension of industry’s liability beyond compliance with environmental legislation, as envisaged in the European Commission White Paper on Environmental Liability and, if so, what this assessment is.

Mr Sam Galbraith: The Scottish Executive is working with DETR on an UK-wide assessment of the European Commission White Paper on Environmental Liability, which will include the impact on industry’s liability.

Environment

Kate MacLean (Dundee West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce its intentions following the review of the air quality strategy objective for particles (PM10).

Mr Sam Galbraith: The work to consider the prospect for strengthening the objective is well in hand, and should be available at the end of March. The most significant area of work will be advice from the Department of Health’s Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution (COMEAP) on the chronic effects of air pollution. To date the health implications of particle air pollution have tended to focus on the acute short-term effects. Evidence is now beginning to emerge which suggests that the long-term chronic effects of particle air pollution may be considerably more significant. This advice from COMEAP may, if relevant, be used to support a quantification of the benefits to health from reducing concentrations of particles. A comprehensive study of the costs of emission reduction measures is also under way, and is expected to be completed in February or March. The latest modelling work, that will show what impact the recently announced policy measures are likely to have on concentrations of particles over the next few years will also be completed in February.

  Once the results are available, the Scottish Executive expects to be in a position to consult on proposals for a new objective for particles over the summer.

European Funding

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what procedures it has in place to establish when rural areas such as Dumfries and Galloway are eligible for European Union funding and how it makes local authorities aware of funding opportunities.

Angus MacKay: The Executive works in close partnership with a wide range of public sector bodies, including local authorities and local enterprise companies, to develop, negotiate and implement European Union funded programmes in various spheres. Lines of communication and procedures are therefore in place and well established in all parts of Scotland. Whether rural or urban, local authorities, as key partners, are well placed to understand the funding opportunities and mechanisms.

Health

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-10569 by Susan Deacon on 27 November 2000, what information it has on any cost to Dumfries and Galloway Health Board of treating patients from the North of England.

Susan Deacon: The treatment costs for patients who are resident in the North of England but have received treatment in Dumfries and Galloway are reimbursed by their host health authority. In the current year, Dumfries and Galloway will receive a total of £176,018 from the Northern and Yorkshire Region of the NHS in England under these arrangements.

Health

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether its intention to end the "postcode lottery of care" as described by the Minister for Health and Community Care on 14 December 2000 ( Official Report , col.1039) will result in services being equally available in all health board areas and, if so, when this will be achieved.

Susan Deacon: Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change , published on 14 December, sets out fully the range of measures which will be taken to develop and achieve strong national and clinical standards across NHSScotland.

Health

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what total revenue was raised from prescription charges in Scotland in each year from 1995 to date.

Susan Deacon: The total revenue raised from prescription charges from 1 April 1994 to 31 March 2000 is shown in the following table:

  Total Value of Prescription Charges Collected from 1994-95 to 1999-2000

  


Year 
  

Total Value of Charges Collected* (£000)




1994-95 
  

33,231 
  



1995-96 
  

34,249 
  



1996-97 
  

33,993 
  



1997-98 
  

36,141 
  



1998-99 
  

38,715 
  



1999-2000 
  

42,926 
  



  * Includes income from the sale of Prescription Pre-payment Certificates.

Housing

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-8386 by Ms Wendy Alexander on 13 July 2000, whether it has now refined the precise funding mechanism that will apply to any cash incentives to be provided to tenants of social landlords and, if so, whether it will announce the criteria and related procedures which will apply.

Jackie Baillie: Section 43 of the recently published Housing (Scotland) Bill will extend the powers available to local authorities to provide cash grants to tenants. Specifically, this section, as currently drafted, will allow local authorities to prepare a scheme for designated pressured areas which would allow for grants to be paid both to its own tenants and to tenants of registered social landlords living within a designated area if they chose to do so. The Bill also gives Scottish Ministers powers to issue guidance on the form and content of these schemes and this will be prepared in due course and contain advice on eligibility criteria and the determination of grant payments.

  As far as the funding mechanism is concerned, it is intended that grants to tenants under these schemes in designated pressured areas will be paid by local authorities from resources made available for housing by Scottish Ministers.

Housing

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities currently require tenants who are exercising their right to buy to take out a particular building insurance policy as a condition of buying their home and which of these authorities receive commissions from the insurance premiums generated.

Jackie Baillie: Conditions attached to right to buy sales relating to insurance policies are a matter for local authorities and prospective purchasers to agree. Information on these matters is not held centrally.

Housing

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any conflict of interest exists where a local authority is factor of property in an area where there is a mixture of tenanted and owner-occupied property.

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any conflict of interest exists where a local authority uses its own operatives to carry out repairs on owner-occupied property which it factors, rather than seek quotes on behalf of owners, given the factor’s responsibility to act in the owner’s best interest.

Jackie Baillie: Where a tenant has exercised his or her right to buy their council property, they should be allowed the full enjoyment and use of the house as owner. However, if ownership of the building is shared between the local authority and RTB owners, specific conditions may be put in place to cover arrangements for carrying out factoring services and repair and maintenance work. In general terms, such conditions may be required to ensure that all parties will pay their share of the costs towards any communal work carried out. The precise conditions of sale are a matter for agreement between the landlord and purchaser and it is for each party to satisfy themselves, in consultation with their legal advisors prior to completing the transaction, that all terms are reasonable. Any dispute over the conditions would normally be resolved by the Lands Tribunal for Scotland.

Legal Aid

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will make legal aid available to people pursuing cases through employment tribunals and how much it will cost in the current financial year and each of the next 10 financial years to extend legal aid to this group.

Mr Jim Wallace: On 15 January 2001, legal representation at employment tribunals became available under the Assistance by Way of Representation scheme for certain types of case. The costs will depend on the number of eligible cases and the way the Scottish Legal Aid Board interpret the Regulations. We cannot predict with any accuracy the likely cost over 10 years, but we estimate that the cost in the first year will be of the order of £200,000.

Local Government

Alex Johnstone (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to introduce a right of appeal against new community council schemes introduced by local authorities.

Peter Peacock: Where a local authority considers that a community council scheme ought to be amended, they are required to give public notice of their proposals, inviting any community council concerned and the public to make representations in respect of their proposals. Community councils may raise objections against amended schemes with the local authority. It is for local authorities to determine whether there are sufficient grounds to further amend their scheme in light of any such objections.

  We have no plans to introduce a statutory right of appeal against amended schemes.

Local Government

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why Glasgow City Council is to receive the 27th highest increase in aggregate external finance over the years 2001-02 to 2003-04.

Peter Peacock: Glasgow City Council’s grant allocation was calculated by formula based on long-established methods of establishing each council’s need to spend on services. A floor mechanism was also introduced to ensure that all councils would benefit from increases of at least 5%, 4% and 3.4% over the three years. Glasgow continues to receive substantially more grant per person than any other mainland council and has benefited by £16 million from the floor.

NHS Equipment

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has carried out any investigation into any implications for patient care of NHS Trusts using medical equipment that is deemed to be beyond its standard life and, if not, whether it has any plans to do so.

Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive has not carried out such an investigation. It is for NHS Trusts to ensure all medical equipment is safe for use by patients and staff and to ensure that appropriate arrangements are in place for maintenance and replacement.

  The Executive is committed to increasing the resources available for capital expenditure in the NHS in Scotland to improve equipment and facilities to improve patient care.

Nursing

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to reduce the number of student nurses who drop out of training colleges due to a perceived poor quality of clinical placements offered.

Susan Deacon: We have continually urged universities and NHS Trusts to work together to minimise the drop-out rate of student nurses and midwives, by addressing a range of issues including:

  the preparation of the clinical mentors who support students during placements;

  the timing, nature and support provided for students’ early experiences of clinical placements;

  course design to facilitate student progression through successive academic challenges and clinical experiences;

  availability of student support services for nursing students.

  The discontinuation rate can most accurately be measured retrospectively, after each cohort has completed its programme of study. Figures calculated on this basis by the National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting for Scotland, give evidence of an improvement over recent years.

Planning

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to assist local authorities in improving their planning systems.

Mr Sam Galbraith: In 1997 a Planning Audit Unit was set up within Planning Services Division of the Scottish Executive. Its initial purpose was to work with authorities to assist in securing improvements in the delivery of their development control service. As well as continuing to do this, it is now also working with authorities to improve their development planning functions.

  We also seek to keep national planning policy up to date. In November 2000 we published a revision of National Planning Policy Guideline 1: The Planning System. We will shortly be publishing a revision of Planning Advice Note 40: Development Control which will provide, inter alia, best practice advice on development control services.

Planning

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce a right of appeal for objectors to a particular planning development which has been approved.

Mr Sam Galbraith: We have no plans at present to introduce such a right of appeal into the planning system.

Prison Service

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for further involvement of private sector service providers in prisons.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have now received the Scottish Prison Service Estates Review and have asked for some additional work to be undertaken. No decisions will be made on it, including the involvement of the private sector, until this follow-up work is completed and after the opportunity for informed public debate.

Prison Service

Mr Alex Salmond (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-7100 by Mr Jim Wallace on 7 June 2000, what (a) the basic staff requirement for officers and (b) the number of officers in post was for each prison on 31 December 2000.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The table shows (a) the staffing complement and (b) the Staff-In-Post (SIP) on 31 December 2000, for prison officers and operational first-line managers.

  


Establishment 
  

Complement (a) 
  

SIP (b) 
  



HMP Aberdeen 
  

126 
  

128 
  



HMP Barlinnie 
  

475 
  

487 
  



HMP Castle Huntly 
  

52 
  

53 
  



HMPI Cornton Vale 
  

190 
  

189 
  



HM YOI Dumfries 
  

127 
  

126 
  



HMP Edinburgh 
  

382 
  

384 
  



HMP Glenochil 
  

392 
  

388 
  



HMP Greenock 
  

144 
  

147 
  



HMP Inverness 
  

84 
  

81 
  



HMP Low Moss 
  

131 
  

130 
  



HMP Noranside 
  

51 
  

51 
  



HMP Perth 
  

348 
  

344 
  



HMP Peterhead 
  

196 
  

195 
  



HMP Polmont 
  

275 
  

273 
  



HMP Shotts 
  

382 
  

366 
  



SPS College 
  

22 
  

20 
  



HMP Zeist 
  

41 
  

40 
  



TOTAL 
  

3,418 
  

3,402

Rail Network

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-8809 by Sarah Boyack on 10 August 2000, whether the full business case for the Larkhall to Milngavie rail route project has been received and considered; whether a decision has been taken on the project’s suitability for level playing field support under the Public/Private Partnership arrangements; if so, whether it will announce that decision and, if not, when it expects a decision to be taken and an announcement made.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive has still to receive for our consideration the Full Business Case for this project.

Rail Network

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any of the £7 billion allocated to the Rail Modernisation Fund will be included in the Scottish assigned budget as a result of the operation of the Barnett formula and, if not, what process is in place to allow bids to be made from Scotland for assistance from this fund.

Sarah Boyack: The Barnett formula will not apply to the Rail Modernisation Fund which will be distributed by the Strategic Rail Authority across the rail network of Great Britain. Bids for assistance from Scotland will be considered in the same way as bids from elsewhere in GB.

Roads

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the economic and social consequences will be of delaying the construction of the M74 Northern Extension until the completion of a public inquiry and what the cost of the inquiry will be.

Sarah Boyack: If a public inquiry is necessary then that is part of the statutory process and is not a delay. It is not possible to estimate the cost of an inquiry until the scope of any objections to the scheme are known.

Roads

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the earliest date is when the construction of the M74 Northern Extension can commence.

Sarah Boyack: I expect construction works for the new motorway to start in 2005 subject to completion of all of the statutory and procurement procedures.

Roads

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the impact will be on regeneration, land reclamation and investment of constructing a modified M74 Northern Extension without junctions.

Sarah Boyack: The scheme that will be taken forward in partnership with Glasgow, South Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire will have four key junctions. It will create significant investment and regeneration opportunities for the whole of west central Scotland and in addition, more locally assist in making contaminated land safe.

Schools

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of the total cost of bringing Scotland’s school buildings up to an acceptable standard.

Mr Jack McConnell: The overall management of their school building stock is a matter for individual education authorities. Detailed consistent information of the kind requested is not available centrally. We will be discussing with local authority representatives aspects of school building needs with a view to clarifying the level of need for improvement, and agreeing a shared approach to establishing priorities in meeting that need.

Small Businesses

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase the availability of venture capital finance to small businesses.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive keeps the financial needs of small business under continued review. I am very pleased that the change of status afforded to Scottish Equity Partners - formerly Scottish Development Finance, Scottish Enterprise’s investment arm - has allowed the company to raise £80 million for a new Venture Capital Fund aimed at early stage and growth technology companies. This will provide access to equity funding for an increasing number of Scottish small businesses.

Small Businesses

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will respond to the report by the Federation of Small Businesses, Barriers to Growth and Survival , and, if so, when.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Officials in the Executive’s Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department hosted a seminar on 7 December at which the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) gave a presentation on the report. This allowed the FSB representatives to discuss the findings with officials working on most of the subjects covered by the report. My officials will continue to meet regularly with the FSB.

Social Inclusion

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether its social inclusion strategy takes account of the role played by independent advice services in tackling social exclusion through the provision of free and impartial advice and information; if not, what role it believes such independent advice services have in tackling social exclusion, and how it sees this role fitting in with its policies.

Jackie Baillie: The Scottish Executive recognises the role played by independent advice services in tackling social exclusion. For this reason representatives from the sector are involved in our work to develop the national debtline and the community legal service which will ensure that free, impartial, legal and money advice will be available throughout Scotland.

Social Justice

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce a statutory obligation on local authorities to ensure the provision of free, impartial and independent (a) legal advice and information and (b) debt management advice and information throughout Scotland.

Jackie Baillie: There are no plans to introduce a statutory obligation on local authorities, but through our work on the community legal service and national debtline we are working to improve access to free, impartial, quality legal and money advice throughout Scotland. My colleague Jim Wallace has set up a working group to bring forward proposals on how a community legal service can be established in Scotland and is reviewing the law on diligence, which will include consideration of a debt arrangement scheme. I will be piloting our plans for a National Telephone Debt line later this year and I am also pursuing with COSLA how the money and debt advice services provided by local authorities can be improved.

Tourism

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether increased funding will be made available to visitscotland, the British Tourist Authority or any other relevant organisation to market the Highlands as a tourist destination following the coverage generated by Madonna’s wedding and, if so, how much.

Mr Alasdair Morrison: The tourism marketing organisations have flexibility to meet emerging, new priorities within the budgets available to them. No additional funding is being made available specifically for this purpose.

Tourism

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning has received representations from a group of business people operating within the Lochaber area, comprising Alan Kirk of McTavish’s Kitchens, Stewart MacLean of Innseagan Holidays and 16 others, regarding proposals for the promotion of tourism in the area; if so, whether a meeting with the group will be arranged as a matter of urgency in order that their proposals could be implemented in relation to the 2001 season.

Mr Alasdair Morrison: Yes. The letter raises a number of issues relating to the tourism industry. These are being considered and a full reply will be sent as soon as possible.

Transport

Alex Johnstone (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what powers it has to address any current transport gridlock in Aberdeen caused by the closure of the Grandholm Bridge.

Sarah Boyack: Responsibility for management of traffic rests primarily with Aberdeen City Council. There is consultation with the Executive on trunk road matters.

Transport

Alex Johnstone (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to ensure that the movement of emergency vehicles travelling into Aberdeen from the north is not impeded due to any current traffic gridlock caused by the closure of the Grandholm Bridge.

Sarah Boyack: We have consulted the emergency services and have received no reports of significant problems concerning increased response times for emergency vehicles travelling into Aberdeen from the north.

Transport

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-8803 by Sarah Boyack on 10 August 2000, whether the final draft of the Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance has now been issued for consultation; if so, what the timescale is for the consultation period, and when a final version of the guidance will be published.

Sarah Boyack: I expect a draft of the Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance to be issued in early March 2001 to a wide range of interested bodies. A copy will be placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre. The first major application of the guidance will be in the Central Scotland Transport Corridor Studies later this year. I will also be encouraging local authorities and the Strathclyde Passenger Executive to use the draft guidance to appraise their transport projects. The draft will be updated as necessary in the light of these experiences and the comments received in the consultation. The final version will issue around the end of this year.

Transport

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-2899 by Sarah Boyack on 13 January 2000, whether the route profiles of all routes in the trunk road network have now been updated and, if so, whether it will place a copy of the findings of this exercise in respect of each route in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Sarah Boyack: The work to update the Route Profiles should be completed next month. Thereafter the Route Profiles will be widely distributed and a copy of each placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

Transport

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-2904 by Sarah Boyack on 12 January 2000, whether it has published any estimates provided by local authorities in interim road traffic reduction reports; if not, whether it now considers it appropriate to do so, and when it will publish any such estimates.

Sarah Boyack: I did not consider it appropriate to publish the figures as these were interim reports. I am currently considering the statutory reports received from local authorities towards the end of last year.

Transport

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-3850 by Sarah Boyack on 3 February 2000, which of the nine applications for Freight Facilities Grant being assessed at that time (a) have been funded (i) in full and (ii) in part, (b) are still under review, (c) were deferred and (d) were rejected.

Sarah Boyack: Of these nine applications for Freight Facilities Grant, six have now been funded up to the level justified by economic and financial appraisal as necessary in order to tip the balance of costs in favour of rail or inland waterway. The other three applications remain under review.

Transport

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-3850 by Sarah Boyack on 3 February 2000, whether it will list all applications for Freight Facilities Grant received since then, specifying in each case whether a decision has been reached and what each such decision was.

Sarah Boyack: Since 3 February 2000, the Scottish Executive have received a further five applications for Freight Facilities Grant. Of these applications, one has recently been awarded (£693,000) and four are under review.

Water Charges

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive,  with regard to its consultation paper Affordability of Water and Sewerage Charges, what further consultation will take place and whether any further consultation will include those not connected to the public water supply and those who have their septic tanks emptied by the local water authority.

Mr Sam Galbraith: The consultation paper on Affordability of Water and Sewerage Charges covers charges for those connected to the public water and sewerage network.

  As far as those not connected to the public networks are concerned, we have no present plans for consultation in relation to affordability, but a consultation on revisions to the private supply regulations will be brought forward in due course.